Part 15

'Do what you please!' cries Persius, who identifies himself with the Stoic philosopher. 'Stop just there and learn of me; but first cease to be scornful, and let me get these old wives' notions out of your head. The praetor could not teach you any thing about the conduct of life with all its perplexities. As well expect a man to teach an elephant to dance the tight-rope. Reason bars the way, and whispers, "You must not do what you will spoil in the doing." This is nature's law, the law of common-sense. You mix medicine, and know nothing of scales and weights? You, a clodhopper, and undertake to pilot a ship? Absurd, you say; and yet what do you know of life? How can you walk upright without philosophy? How can you tell the ring of the genuine metal, and detect the faulty sound of the base alloy? Do you know what to seek, what to avoid, what to mark with white, what with black? Can you control your wishes, moderate your expenses, be indulgent to your friends? Do you know how to save and how to spend? Can you keep your month from watering at the sight of money, from burning at the taste of ginger? When you can say in truth, "All this is mine," then you are truly free. But if you retain the old man under the new title, I take back all that I have granted. You can do nothing that is right. Every action is a fault. Put forth your finger-- you sin. There is not a half-ounce of virtue in your silly carcass. You must be all right or all wrong. Man is one. You can not be virtuous by halves. You can not be at once a ditcher and a dancer. You are a slave still, though the praetor's wand may have waved away your bonds. You do not tremble at a master's voice, 'tis true, but there are other masters than those whom the law recognizes. The wires that move you do not jerk you from without, but masters grow up within your bosom' (91-131).

Here the dialogue is dropped. We leave Dama, whose personality has been getting fainter all the time, and are treated to a series of more or less dramatic scenes in illustration of the Ruling Passions.

So Avarice and Luxury dispute about the body and soul of an un-Stoic slave (132-160).

A Lover tries to break the chain that binds him to an unworthy mistress (161-175).

Another is led captive by Ambition at her will (176-179).

Yet another is under the dominion of Superstition (180-188).

But why discourse thus? Imagine what the military would say to such a screed of doctrine. I hear the horse-laugh of Pulfennius, as he bids a clipped dollar for a hundred Greek philosophers-- a cent apiece (189-191).

This Satire is justly considered by many critics the best of all the productions of Persius, as it is the least obscure. The warm tribute to his master Cornutus may have had its share in commending the poem to teachers, who, of all men, are most grateful for gratitude. But apart from this revelation of a pure and loving heart, the peculiar talent of Persius, which consists in vivid portraiture of character and situation, appears to great advantage in this composition. True, the introduction is not wrought into the poem, and the poet's discourse is too distinctly a Stoic school exercise, and reminiscence crowds on reminiscence, but there is a certain movement in the Satire, or Epistle, as it were better called, which carries us on over the occasional rough places, without the perpetual jolt which we feel every where else on the 'corduroy road' of Persius's _Gradus ad Parnassum_.

1-4. Persius: Oh for a hundred voices, a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues!

1. #Vatibus hic mos est#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 86: _#regibus hic mos# est._ _Vatibus_, with a sneer. See Prol., 7. --#centum sibi poscere voces#: Examples might be multiplied indefinitely from Homer to Charles Wesley. Comp. Il., 2, 489: +oud' ei moi deka men glôssai, deka de stomat' eien+; and Verg., Aen., 6, 625: _non mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum_; also Georg., 2, 43; Ov., Met., 8, 532. Conington burlesques the passage by translating _poscere_ 'put in a requisition for,' and _optare_ 'bespeak.' By such devices humor of a certain kind might be extracted from elegies, and Vergil be made 'to put in a requisition for Quintilius at the Bureau of the Gods,' Hor., Od., 1, 24, 12.

3. #seu ponatur#: The mood after _seu_-- _seu_ is determined on general principles (A., 61, 4, _c_). In practice, however, the Indicative is more common (G., 597, R. 4). The Subjunctive is to be explained by G., 666 (see last example), and A., 66, 2. --#ponatur# = _proponatur_ (Cic., Tusc. Dis., 1, 4, 7). Comp. +theinai+, +thesis+. Jahn understands it as _ponere lucum_, 1, 70, _posuisse figuras_, 1, 86. Perhaps there is a play on the different senses of _ponere_. 'Serve up' would not be bad in view of vv. 9, 10. --#hianda#: 'To be spouted by some doleful actor.' '_Hianda_ has reference to the tragic mask, in which a wide aperture was cut for the mouth, to facilitate a distinct enunciation. From the appearance presented by the speaker, it soon came to be used of a bombastic style of utterance. Comp. _carmen #hiare#_, Prop., 2, 31, 6, and _grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur #hiatu#_, Juv., 6, 636.' Pretor, after Jahn.

4. #vulnera Parthi#: Is _Parthi_ object or subject? The passage is a reminiscence of Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 15: _aut labentia equo describat #vulnera Parthi#_. If _Parthi_ is the object, an interpretation which is favored by the Horatian passage and by the propriety of the epic theme-- for why should a Roman enlarge upon the wounds that the Parthian deals?-- _ducentis ab inguine ferrum_ must be rendered 'drawing the dart from his groin.' Still _ab_ is not a suitable preposition, nor can it be defended by such expressions as _ducere suspiria ab imo pectore_, Ov., Met., 10, 402. Others think of 'trailing the shaft from his groin,' in which it had been imbedded. Comp. v. 160: _a collo trahitur pars longa catenae_. If _Parthi_ is the subject, translate, 'The Parthian who draws the arrow from [the quiver] near his groin.' The Eastern nations wore the quiver low, the Greeks upon the shoulder. This line refers to epic poetry as the preceding to tragedy.

5-18. Cornutus: What need have you of a hundred mouths? You have no foolish tragedy to cram, no big epics to mouth. Your simple satire demands a simple style, the talk of every day, only better put. Your business is to scourge and pierce, and yet remember that you are a gentleman. Let these themes suffice you, and leave to others the stage-horrors of cannibalic feasts; yourself content with the pot-luck of the Roman cit.

5. #Quorsum haec#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 21. --#aut#: G., 460, R.; A., 71, 2. --#robusti carminis offas#: 'dumplings of substantial poetry,' 'lumps of solid poetry' (Conington). _Offa_ is a dumpling of meal or flesh. Comp. Apul., Met., 1, 3, on the chokiness of a certain _polentae caseatae #offula# grandior_.

6. #ingeris#: 'cram.' The whole passage is intended to be coarse. 'What great gobbets of stuffing song are you cramming yourself with, that you require a hundred throats to strain them down?' Others understand: _ingeris_ sc. _populo_. See v. 177. --#centeno gutture# = _centum gutturibus_. So _centena arbore_, Verg., Aen., 10, 207 (Conington).

7. #grande#: See 1, 14. --#locuturi#: See 1, 100. --#nebulas#: Jahn is reminded of Hor., A. P., 230: _nubes et inania captet_. Observe that _legunto_ suggests the culinary figure below. The mists represent the vegetables, Procne and Thyestes furnish the meat. --#Helicone#: See Prologue. Persius is as intensely Roman in poetic practice as he is Greek in philosophic theory. --#legunto#: The Imperative, instead of the Subjunctive, gives the tone of an edict or of a cookery-book.

8. #Prognes--Thyestae#: See Classical Dictionaries for the familiar myths. Observe the balance. Procne served up her son, Thyestes made a dinner off his. Both are common tragic themes. See Hor., A. P., 91. 186-187. --#olla fervebit#: 'Who are going to set Thyestes's pot a-boiling' (Conington).

9. #Glyconi#: Glyco was a stupid actor of the day, who could not understand a joke. The Neronians have made the most of the fact, as reported by the Scholiast, that G. was manumitted by Nero, who paid his half-owner Vergilius 300,000 sesterces for his share. So, for instance, Lehmann (_De A. Persii Satira Quinta_, p. 17), who has nosed out all manner of subtle Neronian flavors in this innocent satire. --#cenanda#: Comp. 3, 46.

10. #coquitur dum#: When the action with _dum_, 'while,' is co-extensive with the action in the leading clause, the limit may be expressed by _until_, 'while it is smelting' = 'until it is smelted' --#massa#: See note on 2, 67.

11. #folle#: The wind is squeezed 'with' or 'in' the bellows rather than 'from' the bellows. The Scholiast notices the Horatian reminiscence, Sat., 1, 4, 19: _at tu conclusas hircinis #follibus# auras | usque laborantes, dum ferrum molliat ignis | ut mavis, imitare_. Comp. also Juv., 7, 111: _tunc immensa cavi spirant mendacia #folles#_. --#nec clauso murmure#, etc.: 'Nor with pent-up murmur croak to yourself until you are hoarse some solemn nonsense.'

13. #scloppo#: So Jahn (1868), instead of _stloppo_ (1843). This is supposed to be a word coined to express the sound (comp. _bombis_, 1, 99). Conington renders 'plop.' Vanicek records it under SKAR, S. 183, and it may well be the 'slap' with which the distended cheeks are reduced, and hence the 'plop' which is heard. The childish trick may be witnessed wherever there are children. Persius multiplies absurd and meaningless noises without any sharp distinction.

14. #verba togae#: 'the language of every-day life.' The _fabula togata_ is Roman comedy, as opposed to the _fabula praetexta_, or Roman tragedy, and to the _f. palliata_, the subjects of which were Greek. Persius insists on the connection of the national satire with the national comedy, and the scanty remains of the _fabula togata_ deserve close comparison. --sequeris = _sectaris_. Prol., 11. --#acri iunctura#: 'nice grouping,' 'telling combination.' The words are familiar, but the setting is new. Comp. Hor., A. P., 47: _#notum# si callida #verbum# | reddiderit #iunctura# novum_; and 242: _tantum #series iunctura#que pollet | tantum #de medio sumptis# accedit honoris_. An important passage, as showing the intense self-consciousness of the poet's art.

15. #ore teres modico#: Jahn comp. _ore rotundo_, Hor., A. P., 323. The mouth stands for the style, and the position of the mouth symbolized the utterance (_ore magis quam labris loquendum est_, Quint., 11, 3, 81). _Teres_ as in Cic., De Orat., 3, 52, 199: _est [oratio] et plena quaedam sed tamen #teres# et tenuis, non sine nervis et viribus._ 'A moderate rounding of the cheek' (Conington); but although in view of v. 13 it would be desirable to retain the figure, it is hardly possible. 'With smooth and compassed tone.' As _teres ore = ore modico_, Hermann (_L. P._, II., 46) comp. Ov., Fast., 6, 425: _lucoque obscurus opaco_. --#pallentis mores#: The 'spirit of the age' is also the 'body of the age.' Hence the figure. 'Pale' with disease and vice (comp. 4, 47), 'guilty.' --#radere#: Comp. 1, 107.

16. #ingenuo ludo#: 'with high-bred raillery,' 'with raillery that a gentleman may speak and hear.' Persius has in mind +eutrapelia+, the +pepaideumenê hubris+ of Aristotle, Rhet., 2, 12, as Conington suggests. --#defigere#: Variously explained. So 'post up,' 'placard' (Casaubon); 'pin to the ground' (Conington); 'pierce,' like an arrow (Jahn); 'sting,' like a hornet, as in Ov., Fast., 3, 753: _milia crabronum coeunt et vertice nudo, | spicula #defigunt# oraque summa notant_. Comp. the use of _figere_, 3, 80.

17. #hinc#: From every-day life. König compares Hor., A. P., 318: _vivas #hinc# ducere voces_. --#quae dicis#: So Jahn (1868), after the best MSS. In 1843 we find _dicas_, which is more natural, but not necessary. --#Mycenis#: Dative, far more forcible than the locative Ablative. Jahn comp. Prol., 5: _illis relinquo_, a reading which he afterward abandoned. See G., 344, R. 3.

18. #cum capite et pedibus#: served up to Thyestes after he had finished his dinner. Comp. Aeschyl., Ag., 1594; Sen., Thyest., 764. --#plebeia prandia#: Your theme is 'human nature's daily food,' not the heroic suppers of 'raw-head and bloody-bones' that teach us nothing. _Mensa_ is contrasted with _prandia_ (comp. Seneca's _sine mensa prandium_, cited 1, 67) as 'banquet' with 'meal,' '_Tafel_' with '_Tisch_.'

19-29. Persius: You understand my aims. I do not care to swell my page with frothy nonsense. And now that we are alone, I desire you to examine my heart, that you may see how you are enshrined in it-- a theme for which I might well desire a hundred voices.

19. #equidem#: Here in accordance with common usage. See 1, 110. --#bullatis nugis#: 'air-blown trifles' (Gifford). _Bullatis:_ so Jahn (1868) with Hermann. The reading of the oldest MSS., _pullatis_, 'sad colored,' explained now as 'tragic stuff' (because mourners were _pullati_); now as stuff for the groundlings (because the common people were _pullati_), is scarcely tenable. _Ampullatis_, Jahn's conjecture, though defended by Lachmann (Lucret., 6, 1067), is metrically bad; but the sense is excellent, and the reference would be to a passage which Persius must have had in his mind. Hor., A. P., 97: _proicit #ampullas# et sesquipedalia verba_. Even Thyestes is mentioned in the context, l.c. 91. _Bullatis_, 'bubbly.' Hermann (_L. P._, I., 32) comp. _alata avis_, and makes _bullatis_ refer to _tumorem et inanem verborum strepitum_.

20. #dare pondus fumo#: Casaubon comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 42: _nugis #addere pondus#_. Horace uses the expression in the sense of 'attaching importance.' Persius means that these trifles are fitted to lend importance, to give seeming substance to mere vapors. _Fumus_ is a synonym for 'humbug.' On _dare idonea_ = _idonea quae det_, see G., 424, R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f._

22. #excutienda#: See 1, 49. But the figure changes below, or there is a figure within a figure, the heart being compared to a wall, the wall to a dress. On the construction, see G., 431; A., 72, 5, _c._

23. #pars animae#: Comp. _te meae partem animae_, Hor., Od., 2, 17, 5; _animae dimidium meae_, Od., 1, 3, 8. --#Cornute#: See Introduction, ix.

24. #ostendisse#: once for all. See G., 275, 1; A., 58, 11, _d._ --#pulsa#: +kroue+. See 3, 21. --#dinoscere cautus#: Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 51: _cautum adsumere dignos_. Comp. Prol., 11.

25. #solidum crepet#: like _sonat vitium_, 3, 21. G., 331, R. 2; A., 52, 3, _a._ --#pictae tectoria linguae#: The comparison is taken from a stuccoed party-wall painted to look solid. Comp. Afran. ap. Non., 152, 28, v. 14 (Ribbeck): _fallaci aspectu #paries pictus# putidus_ (= _puter_). The notion in _pictae_ belongs rather to _tectoria_ than to _linguae_-- 'painted tongue-stucco.' The figure will not bear close examination any more than the stucco.

26. #his, ut# = _ad haec ut._ Comp. _hoc, ut_, v. 19. Others read _hic_. --#centenas# = _centum_. G., 310, R.; A., 18, 2, _d_. --#deposcere#: Notice the determination that lies in _deposcere_.

27. #quantum fixi#: This is not conceived as a dependent interrogative, as is shown by v. 29, where the antecedent of the parallel clause is expressed. G., 469, R. 3. --#sinuoso#: Comp. Plin., H. N., 2, 37: _cor prima domicilia intra se animo et sanguini praebet #sinuoso specu#_. _Sinuoso pectore_ = _in recessu mentis_, 2, 73.

28. #voce#: carelessly repeated after _voces_. --#pura#: 'honest.'

29. #non enarrabile#: i.e., save by the hundred voices. There is no contradiction, and even if there were-- this is supposed to be poetry. --#fibra#: 1, 47.

30-51. When first I put away the things of boyhood and encountered the temptations of youth, and stood bewildered at the cross-roads of life, I threw myself into your sheltering arms, and put myself under your guiding hand. Happy the memory of those days and nights, as they brought common work and common rest. Surely a common star controls our destinies and makes us one.

30. #pavido#: variously interpreted of the fear-- 1. Which an entrance on life breeds; 2. Which requires the protection of the _praetexta_; 3. Which the rule of tutors and governors inspires. The third view is favored by _blandi comites_, as Conington remarks. Comp. Mart., 11, 39, 2: _et pueri #custos# assiduusque #comes#_ with v. 6: _te dispensator, te domus ipsa #pavet#_. --#custos purpura#: 'the guardian purple.' _Purpura_ = _praetexta_, the dress of boyhood, which was of itself a protection. This was exchanged for the _toga_ when the nonage was over. _Per hoc inane #purpurae# decus precor_, Hor., Epod., 5, 7. --#mihi#: If _cessit_ is taken absolutely, _mihi_ may depend on the predicative notion in _custos_ = _quae mihi custos fuerat_. Casaubon explains, _mihi cessit, ut iam annis maiori vel etiam ut hosti_. It seems best to combine the two: 'When the purple resigned its dreaded guardianship over me.'

31. #bulla#: the well-known 'boss,' which contained amulets and the like. Comp. 2, 70. --#succinctis#: 'Like _cinctutis_ (Hor., A. P., 50), _incinctos_ (Ov., Fast., 2, 632), in allusion to the _cinctus Gabinus_, in which primitive dress they (the Lares) were always represented. It was worn over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free' (Pretor). Conington renders _succinctis_, 'quaint.'

32. #blandi#: (_fuerunt_). --#comites#: Jahn considers these _comites_ the same as those mentioned in 3, 7. See note. The epigram of Mart., cited above, v. 30, makes for this view: the harsh tutors have become _blandi comites_. But most commentators prefer to take _comites_ in its general sense. --#tota Subura#: On the construction, see G., 386; A., 55, 3, _f._ The Subura, as the focus of business life, was the haunt of persons who are sufficiently characterized as _Suburanae magistrae_, Mart., 11, 78, 11.

33. #permisit sparsisse#: On the Inf., see G., 532, R. 1; A., 70, 3, _a._ On the tense, note on 1, 41. With the phraseology, Jahn comp. Val. Flacc., 5, 247: _tua nunc terris, tua #lumina# toto | #sparge# mari_. _Spargere_ is a happy word for a rapid, roving glance. --#iam#: +êdê+. The English idiom often refuses to give the exact force of _iam_. The youngster has got a 'sure enough' _candidus umbo_. The contrast in time is the former _praetexta_. --#candidus umbo#: '_Umbo_ was the knot into which the folds of the toga were gathered after passing the left shoulder' (Pretor). Of course the _umbo_ was _candidus_, as the _toga_ was.

34. #iter ambiguuum#: See 3, 56. --#vitae nescius error#: is bewilderment from ignorance of life.

35. #deducit#: So Jahn (1843), a reading which he has strangely forsaken (1868) for _diducit_. Schlüter puts it neatly thus: _homines in compita ubi viae #di#ducuntur_, _#de#duci dicuntur_. _Compita_ does not mean the roads, but the place where the roads meet-- the crossing (Schol.). _De_ adds the notion of decision to _ducit_. Comp. _in discrimen #de#ducere_, Cic., Fam., 10, 24, 4. The youth is brought to a point where he must choose. --#trepidas#: See 1, 74.

36. #supposui#: Almost 'I made you adopt me.' _Supponere_ is used of supposititious children. As Persius's own father died while the poet was young, there is a tone of orphanage about the expression that appeals to our sympathy. 'I threw myself as a son into your arms.' --#suscipis#: is the correlative of _supposui_.

37. #Socratico sinu#: The loving care of Socrates is meant, as well as his wisdom, as Jahn has observed. --#fallere sollers#: On the construction, see G., 424, R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f_, 3; Prol., 11. 'Skilful to deceive,' in the sense of the gradual Socratic approach. The rule is not rudely applied, but cheats the warped nature into rectitude. Jahn's note amounts to this, that a ruler that understands deception, understands detection, and hence is a true ruler.

38. #regula#: 'ruler.' See note on 4, 11.

39. #premitur ratione#: Comp. Verg., Aen., 6, 80: _fera corda domans fingitque #premendo#_. --#vinci laborat# = _dum vincitur laborat_, _cum labore vincitur_. '_Laborat_ shows that the pupil's mind co-operated with his teacher' (Conington).

40. #artificem#: Passive, _arte factum_, 'artistic,' 'finished.' The figure is of course taken from moulding in wax or clay. --#ducit vultum#: Comp. _exigite ut teneros mores ceu pollice #ducat# | ut si quis cera vultum facit_, Juv., 7, 237; only there the workman moulds, here the material. Transl. 'take on,' 'assume,' as in Ov., Met., 1, 402: _saxa #ducere# formam_ (Jahn). --#pollice#: The thumb is largely used in moulding. See Juv., l.c., and Ov., Met., 10, 285; Stat., Achill., 1, 332, quoted by Jahn.

41. #etenim#: +kai gar+. See 3, 48. --#memini consumere#: See Prol., 2. --#soles# = _dies_. The antithesis runs throughout. _Soles-- opus-- seria_ are opposed to _noctes-- requiem-- mensa_.

42. #primas noctes#: 'the early hours of the night.' --#epulis#: 'for feasting.' Others, 'from feasting,' i.e., for study, 3, 54; 5, 62. --#decerpere#: The expression is a cross between _carpe diem_ (Hor., Od., 1, 11, 8) and _partem solido demere de die_ (Hor., Od., 1, 1, 20). _Decerpere_ is to pluck with resolute, eager hand.

43. #unum opus et requiem# = _unum opus et (unam) requiem_ (Jahn). Casaubon comp. Verg., Georg., 4, 184.

44. #laxamus seria#: Jahn comp. Verg., Aen., 9, 223: _#laxabant# curas_.

45. #non equidem hoc dubites#: On _equidem_, see note on 1, 110. With _non dubites_ comp. _non accedas_, 1, 5. --#foedere certo#: Jahn comp. Manil., 2, 475: _iunxit amicitias horum sub #foedere certo#_. _Foedus certum_, 'fixed law,' 'fixed principle.'

46. #consentire dies#: On the Inf., instead of the normal _quin_ with Subj., see G., 551, R. 4; M., 375 c., Obs. 2. For the thought, comp. Hor., Od., 2, 17, 21: _utrumque nostrum incredibili modo | #consentit# astrum_. --#ab uno sidere duci#: Astrology was very popular in Persius's time, having been brought into vogue by Tiberius. It was the aristocratic mode of divination, and is compared by Friedländer (_Sittengesch._, 1, 347) with the spiritualism and table-turning of the present day. Philosophy was not proof against it; indeed, the later Stoics always had a leaning to it, and Panaetius was the only one that rejected it (Knickenberg, l.c. p. 79). All people of 'culture' talked about 'horoscope,' 'nativity,' and 'malign aspect,' just as the same class in our time speak of 'the spectroscope,' 'heat a mode of motion,' and 'the survival of the fittest.' Horace and Persius, who imitates Horace, have caught up some of the current terms, and travel along the Zodiac in blissful ignorance of their own stars.

47. #aequali Libra#: So Hor., Od., 2, 17, 17: _seu #Libra# seu me Scorpios adspicit_. Comp. the whole passage.

48. #Parca tenax veri#: Comp. _Parca non mendax_, Hor., Od., 2, 16, 39. 'Fate is represented with scales in her hands, also as marking the horoscope on the celestial globe' (Jahn). The _Parca_ of mythology is identified with the _Fatum_ of the Stoics. --#seu#: Observe the irregularity of _vel-- seu_ instead of _seu-- seu_. --#nata# #fidelibus#: 'ordained for faithful friends.' 'The hour of birth is said to be born itself, as in Aeschyl., Ag., 107, +xumphutos aiôn+; Soph., O. R., 1082, +sungeneis mênes+' (Conington).

49. #Geminos#: Casaubon quotes Manil., 2, 628: _magnus erit #Geminis# amor et concordia duplex_.

50. #Saturnumque gravem#, etc.: 'We together cross malignant Saturn by propitious Jove.' 'Saturnine' and 'jovial' are remnants of astrological belief. _Nostro_ is not only 'our,' but 'on our side,' 'propitious.'

51. #nescio quod#: almost = _aliquod_. See v. 12. --#est quod temperat#: On the Mood, see G., 634, R. 1; M., 365, Obs. 2. With the expression, comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 187: _scit genius, natale comes qui #temperat# astrum_, where the parts are reversed. --#me tibi temperat#: The Dative is used after the analogy of _miscere_. 'Blends my being with thine.'